Ashley's Farewell-July 27th, 2014
Arcadia, CA
Ashley Leaving LAX--July 29, 2014
Ashley arrives in Chile--July 30, 2014
Hey! loonnggest plane trip ever! got here safe though. its colder and cloudy here, so im hoping i dont get too depressed but im excited to learn spanish...everyone is speaking it all the time! i slept on the plane ok thanks to dads drugs and the girl who flew with me from LA was with me the whole time. she is super nice :) then we met up with a ton of other missionaries, mostly guys.
the mtc is on temple grounds so we get to go to the temple every week ...
how did taylors dr appt go? how is everyone doing?
I will be able to email again next week sometime between mon and wed. wish me luck as i try and keep from panicking and wondering what ive gotten myself into..
love you all,
ashley
First real emails...August 5, 2014
hey! i think a mass email is a better idea than i thought...and ya i would love to somehow save all my emails, although i have also written in my journal every day since i cant text or call anyone and tell them about my day :P sounds like you guys are all doing well and i think i responded to everyones emails except you and dad ...haha im glad lydia is getting som e use out of my clothes. haha i know exactly how taylor feels..remember how i made you rebandage my incision for me cuz i didnt want to see it? haha
i will try and send a big letter, but after that maybe we can chat too? depends on how much time i have. also taylor wood and grandma want to get the weekly emails i send, so i will send u taylors email...
so i live with two girls from brasil who basically only speak portugese and now spanish, and two other girls from california (paige lopez and tiera smolak) it has been super interesting talking about life and boys and such with the girls frrom brasil but has really made us learn spanish! im in a trio with hermana smolak and hermana ribiero (brazil) so planning lessons has to be in spanish too cuz hermana ribeiro doesnt speak any english at all haha but she is super fun and very nice and all my spanish from high school is coming back! i knew way more than i thought i did! we are super immersed in the language, but i can understand almost all of it, i am just still trying to speak it correctly :P the first day or two were suuupperrr long and i was pretty depressed and overwhelmed, but every day gets a little bit better and now i am feeling sooo much better :) before this, we had our pday and got to actually leave the tiny area we live in (the mtc is on temple grounds, the only temple in chile, and we never leave that gated area except to exercise at the park). we went shopping and got lots of chocolate since that is what we miss and dont get a lot of in the cafeteria, although the food is good, especially the bread :P the presidents wife said to be careful cuz its normal to gain 10 pounds during your six weeks here! i think im ok though cuz i dont snack at all and have eaten pretty healthily.... some of the food is weird, but in general its pretty good :) the weather is cold but every couple days we get a sunny day like today and i consider it a tender mercy cuz its soooo much easier to be optimistic when its sunny :) we sit in a little classroom for 12 hours a day, which is soooo long, but its ok cuz the elders are all 18 and just graduated high school and none of them can focus well and contantly talk and joke, which keeps things interesting haha they remind me of taylor and make me feel old. hermana smolak is 20 too but the other girls are all 19 and just finished their freshman years...ive met so many amazing people here...hermana smolak and some of the elders joined the church like 18 months ago and now they are on missions! its crazy..makes me feel like a wimp sometimes cuz i cant get over the idea of 18 months being FOREVER..hahai love and miss you all!
haha hi mandy!
you are awesome too! are you still enjoying having gymnastics that many hours a day? i bet it is fun to be with your friends learning fun gymnastic skills all day every day! you are an amazing and talented gymnist! and ya i bet it was a weird week at home with nobody there! my normal days include getting up at 6:45, exercising,reading the scriptures, and then being in class alllll day learning spanish and how to teach people. It is long and sometimes tiring but sometimes it is fun :) i will send more info in my email to mom, so ask her if you can read that too! i love you and miss you and hope you keep emailing me!
hi benjamin!! i miss you so much! sounds like you had a fun party!! was it a swim party?
so you still dont like school? but you will get to play with your friends all day every day again! no more being bored at home! love you!
natalie: haha sounds like girls camp was pretty fun :) did you get to hang out with lydia a lot too? and yes i love it when you tell me stuff and i hope you will email me every week! i will look forward to your emails and letters since i cant talk with you on the phone and i love hearing your stories!
my pday is tuesdays we just finished exploring the city we are in and getting ice cream! and yes i know some spanish! its definitely a lot colder here since its winter and i think of you guys when it is sunny and warm! also I want a spa too! haha save one for me when i get home :P love u!
lydia: haha i havent opened the presents yet cuz im waiting for my birthday! but yes the ipod is fantastic! we get ready every morning to the music from it! thank you so much!! im so glad you had fun at girls camp...ya i think my years got more and more fun as i got older and knew the other girls better and got to help be in charge and stuff, so i bet next year will be even funner! the harry potter theme sound like a fantastic idea! and where was the camp?
yes nobody cried which i was really happy about although i definitely almost cried every second of the first day ...haha it was also the longest plane ride and the longest week of my life...but each day gets better and now its super fun :) TONS of learning to do but its going well! love and miss you!
Dad:ya ask mom to forward my emails to you too :) ya i panicked a lot the first week but i am doing a lot better. my spanish is getting much better! i can understand so much more than i thought i would! they talk to us basically all in spanish and one of my companions doesnt speak english so planning lessons requires spanish too :P although it is very brokon on both sides since she speaks portuguese and is learning spanish too. i love and miss you!
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